Stuff out of storage, at last!

I've been buying wine in bond for several years now and have accumulated some treasures which, for reasons too boring to go into here, I've not been able to get at for some time. Last week at long last EHD confirmed that they had my stash and I can now have it delivered with a mere 48 hours notice. G and I sprang into action, reviewed my spreadsheet and picked a couple of items which we felt were ready to go.

First was this 2005 Bourgogne Rouge from Hudelot-Noellat, which I was encouraged to buy by ACC several years ago. It was wonderful to come home to find this had arrived, and to open the box and find 12 of this beauty inside. I couldn't wait to try it. The domaine is based in Chambolle-Musigny and the alcohol level is apparently just 12%. We gave it an hour and a half in the decanter and  found it soft, charming and pretty. It was a baby Chambolle for a fraction of the cost, drinking beautifully now and with a fabulous finish. "Essence of pinot noir" say my notes.

Second was this 2007 Ladoix 1er cru "Les Grechons" from Domaine Nudant. I remember visiting this domaine a few years ago where after a strenuous walk from Chorey in single file along the D974 with lorries whizzing past a few inches away, we had a tasting where we were joined by a random couple of retired Brits clad in some kind of knitted fancy dress costume.

It seems that this experience didn't put me off, as I bought a six-pack of this afterwards. It's a lovely golden colour with a nose of vanilla and cream. Very classy, precise and elegant white burgundy, with the kind of finish that means you have to really slow down as it would be sacrilege to guzzle. We've had it twice now, and the second bottle was slightly richer than the first but both times it scored a 9 on the Premier Cru Project scale. Again it's drinking really well now which is a relief as I was worried it might have peaked already. I'm already down to my last four so don't anticipate any problem getting through it...

A trio of marcs

In the midnight hour, she cried "Marc, marc, marc"....

Now that it's Marc-h (groan), I can crack on and post about the wonderful marcs G and I have been drinking since New Year.

We begin with this 1966 from Jean Michelot, which G bought from La Boutique Des Domaines in Beaune. I believe they had several other vintages too, but this one was the cheapest and although one day I'd love to be the kind of person who can compare the 1966 knowledgeably to the 1965, at this point we're not in that league. I woefully failed to make tasting notes on the contents but it was wonderful, if perhaps on the rustic side. The cork disintegrated in a promising kind of way, and I can note that it went down extremely quickly. Also, Michelot is based in Pommard, whereas the next two marcs were from the Cote de Nuits.

From the same shop, G also bought this marc from Domaine Dujac, one of the grander names of Burgundy based in Morey-St-Denis. It doesn't have a vintage but says "Hors d'Age". I had no idea what that meant until just now, but I gather it's a term from the Cognac scale meaning "beyond age" so presumably what it really means is: kinda old. I did make proper notes on this one, as we drank it here. It was a lovely dark amber colour with red tints. On the palate, it had a delicious heavy mouthfeel and I detected hazelnuts while G said you could tell it was Burgundy as it had red wine characteristics. The finish went on forever. It was more polished than the Michelot but I'm not sure that we actually liked it as much!

And finally, when the others had run out, and impatient for our latest Felettig order to arrive, I resorted to t'internet to see if I could find any marc available here in the UK. I came across this 1961 marc from Domaine Lamarche who are based in Vosne Romanee and are tres serieux. It immediately got points for the use of stand-out red capitals M and B on the label. My tasting notes are not the most legible, but I can make out "better than the Dujac", "great length, creaminess, very fine, venerable spirit" and "bonjour mon petit chouchou" which sums it up. I've just ordered another bottle.